The electronics giant is locked in a battle with Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 for control of the videogame-console market. The cost cuts could help stanch the hardware red ink at Sony, which sold the previous-generation PS3 at a significant loss, making up for it with game-title sales and royalties.

Integration and key changes in components has brought the latest PS3’s cost down to $448.73 from $690.23 for the first-generation model, said iSuppli.

The PS3 sells for about $399 in the U.S., at least $150 more than Wii and Xbox 360. However, the PS3 accounted for 16% of global videogame-unit shipments in the second quarter of 2008, second only to Nintendo’s Wii, which accounted for 54% of the market.

Andrew Rassweiler of iSuppli predicted the PS3 may be able to break even in 2009 with further hardware revisions.

Part of the decline in cost is the result of “the normal learning curve and supply/demand factors that bring component prices down over time,” iSuppli said.

Also, integration of components into the core silicon of the PS3 cut the number of individual parts to an estimated 2,820 from 4,048 in the previous-generation model with a 60-gigabyte hard drive.

The cost estimate of $448.73 doesn’t include software, box contents and royalty expenses.

WSJ.com

The thirteen songs come from the “Rock Band Edition” of the band’s compilation album, The Singles 1992-2003. How’s does the “Rock Band Edition” of The Singles differ from the normal album? Well, it’s missing two songs: “New” and “Trapped in a Box.” Also, you can play it with plastic instruments. Other than that, same album. You can buy the entire bundle for 1600 Microsoft Points ($20) or scoop up individual tracks for 160 MS Points ($2).

Here’s the track list:

1. “Just a Girl”
2. “It’s My Life”
3. “Hey Baby”
4. “Bathwater”
5. “Sunday Morning”
6. “Hella Good”
7. “Underneath It All”
8. “Excuse Me Mr.”
9. “Running”
10. “Spiderwebs”
11. “Simple Kind of Life”
12. “Don’t Speak”
13. “Ex-Girlfriend”

“I never do anything half way. My AXE controller is the closest thing you can have to being onstage in KISS. I created and designed the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar and I can’t wait for the fans to experience it for themselves. The Gene Simmons AXE guitar is such a recognizable symbol – people have been asking for a gaming replica ever since Guitar Hero was first introduced.”

This fully equipped, axe-shaped guitar controller is a replica of the KISS bassist and vocalist’s signature bass guitar. The AXE controller is personally certified by the Rock God himself, Gene Simmons, to give players that Rock Star experience. The wireless AXE guitar controller is a three-quarter-sized replica of the original Gene Simmons AXE guitar and larger than the standard video game guitar controllers. Customized with a replicated paint finish of the original guitar, the Axe guitar controller features Gene Simmons autograph and his photo in make-up painted onto the body of the controller. Interactive Game Group Founder, Fred Chesnais commented:

“Gene Simmons is the Rock Lord and the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar is an integral part of his signature look. Bringing this Axe controller to life was an incredible journey, and I am sure every player will enjoy it.”

The Axe Guitar is available for PS2, PS3 and Nintendo Wii, but no love for Xbox 360 players and will retail at $79.99.

WiiWare Releases:

SPACE INVADERS GET EVEN (Taito, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): The Space Invaders are back, and this time they’re out to get even. Take control of a UFO and make those Earthlings pay by unleashing your fleet of heroic invaders against their puny tanks, fighter jets and artillery-but watch out for the massive boss awaiting you at the end of each stage. Use your invaders’ five attack types and the might of the mother ship to rack up high scores, then upload them via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection and see where you stand in the global rankings. (Note: Router and broadband access required for online play. For more info, visit www.nintendo.com.)

Pit Crew Panic! (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Pit Crew Panic! is a frantic, action-packed game that unfolds on the racing circuit. During the game, the pit crew is not only faced with repairing vehicles, but also various WHATSITs. Handling the WHATSIT repairs is a pit crew made up of legendary beauties. The controls are simple: Just grab a member of the crew with the Wii Remote™ controller’s A Button, then release the button when the Pointer is over the damaged PART, and that crew member will begin repairs. Assign repairs to the members of your team and provide support using the Wii Remote to send a fully repaired WHATSIT out of the pit as quickly as you can. The game features Normal mode, which can be played using one of two rules: Abnormal mode (players split into two teams and compete against each other) and Ranking mode (compete with players around the world for the top record). Each mode can be played with a maximum of four Wii Remote controllers, allowing you to team up with friends and family. Your teamwork could lead to outstanding records.

Virtual Console Release:

METAL SLUG 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen-Blood and Gore, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1998 by SNK, METAL SLUG 2 is a side-scrolling military-action game. Players choose from Marco, Tarma, Eri and Fio, setting their sights on wiping out Morden’s newly remobilized Rebellion Army. Just like the original METAL SLUG, players blaze a trail by shooting and jumping, but METAL SLUG 2 adds a new arsenal for you to command, including a heavy machine gun, a shotgun and even a laser gun, providing players with rich variety. Battle effects are packed in, as well-players turn into mummies after getting caught in poison gas coughed up by mummies. After picking up too many food items, characters turn fat, but they get an attack-strength upgrade. Two-player action is supported, too, so players can have a blast with their friends.

The game was produced by leading Japanese studio Square Enix and makes use of a brainwave-sensing headset from NeuroSky, a San Jose-based company that develops biometric sensors and similar products aimed at the consumer market.

While playing the game, which is a technical demonstration and not a finished product, a special headset will monitor the user’s state of relaxation or concentration and based on this allow them to perform certain actions in the game, NeuroSky said in a statement.

There’s no immediate word on if this might make it into a commercial game, but the demonstration to be shown on Thursday is based on a new game concept being jointly developed by the two companies, NeuroSky said.

Stay tuned for a hands-on and more details when the Tokyo Game Show starts.

PC World – Business Center: Brain-controlled Game to Debut at Tokyo Game Show

Can online gaming and advertising co-exist, or will gamers tune out the ad-supported games at too intrusive? Google will soon find out, with the beta rollout of AdSense for Games software.

The games with the ads will be based on Adobe’s Flash, running in a Web browser with no extra software downloaded on the player’s end. According to some industry estimates, online gamers are already playing about 200 million rounds of Flash games each month.

Before launching the beta, Google reportedly tested in-game ads with partners that included Playfish, the creator of games such as "Who Has the Biggest Brain?" on Facebook.

At the outset, Google’s software will be used in about 25 ad-supported, social media-oriented games, from publishers that will include Playfish, Zynga, and Japanese-based Konami. Konami’s ad-supported games will include classic titles such as "Frogger," along with "Track and Field" and "Dance Dance Dance Revolution."

After each game session, Google’s software will run a 30-second video spot in which a game character will mention the name of the advertising sponsor. So far, Sprint, Sony Pictures, and and eSurance have signed on as advertisers.

Analyst firm the Yankee Group has forecast the ad-supported online games market to reach $971.3 million three years from now. Some observers also predict that ads will become part of the games themselves, with players inserting ads into billboards in game environments.

Overt advertising, however, hasn’t gone over very well on social networking sites, with many users complaining that the ads are an unwelcome distraction from their interactions with online friends.

In efforts to make online ads more palatable, some advertisers have already sought to insert their brands into social media in more subtle ways, collectively referred to as "immersive advertising."

As previously reported in BetaNews, on MTV’s VLES site, kids in chat rooms have been sipping on "virtual Pepsis." At Gaia Online, teens and 20-somethings have been dressing up avatars in virtual Disney T-Shirts.

Clearly, Google already has bigger plans in mind than just the 30-second video spots. "As a beta user of AdSense for Games, you can display video ads, image ads, or text ads within your online games to earn revenue. You’ll be able to show these ads in placements you define, such as interstitial frames before a game, after a level change, or when a game is over," says a blurb on the AdSense for Games beta Web site.

"Members of our AdWords team will sell your in-game ad placements directly to top brand advertisers, and you’ll also see contextually targeted text and image ads based on content and demographic information. In addition, you’ll be able to control the ads you see on your pages using our filtering options."

Only time will tell how successful these various Google-conjectured ad approaches will actually be with online gamers.

Meanwhile, early last year, Google acquired in-game ad firm Adscape Media, and rumors persist that Google will ultimately build an ad-supported virtual world.

BetaNews | AdSense ads wind their way into Flash games

When Nintendo launched the DSi in Tokyo on Thursday, company President Satoru Iwata told reporters that Nintendo plans to launch the DSi overseas in 2009, but didn’t elaborate further on which markets that plan applies to or when during the year the start of sales would come.

Later in the day at a U.S. event, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said the device would appear in Europe in the “Spring” but not in the U.S. until “well into 2009.”

And in an interview with the Nikkei business daily in Japan, Iwata said plans were to launch the DSi overseas “probably” in 2009.

The company can afford this less-than-aggressive approach to overseas launch plans because the current DS model is still selling well outside Japan, while sales at home have been flagging.

In the April to June quarter sales of the DS in Japan totalled 580,000 units, according to Nintendo’s figures. That’s sharply down on the 2 million units the company sold in the same period a year earlier. In contrast overseas sales in the same period totalled 6.36 million units, up from 4.89 million units in the year-earlier period.

To date, 23 million DS devices have been sold in Japan, roughly 1 for every 5th person in the country. Iwata hopes the new DSi will reinvigorate sales and said Thursday he wants everyone in Japan to own one.

PC World – Business Center: Nintendo’s DSi ‘probably’ Hitting US in 2009 Says Iwata

The move would pit the top-selling portable game gear with Apple Inc iPod and camera-embedded cellphones in general.

The price for the new machine, which will also be equipped with advanced wireless communications functions, is expected to be below 20,000 yen ($189) in Japan, compared with 16,800 yen for the current model, the Nikkei said.

The Wii game console and DS have been Nintendo’s twin growth engines, helping its share price to grow more than three-fold over the past three years.

The DS far outsells Sony Corp’s rival machine, PlayStation Portable (PSP), globally.

But in Japan, the PSP’s unit sales exceeded the DS’s in five consecutive months through July, according to game magazine publisher Enterbrain, in a potential sign of slowing momentum for the current DS model.

Nintendo officials were not immediately available for comment.

Nintendo to launch camera, music-capable DS: report – Yahoo! News

Two weeks later it’s here courtesy of a little solder and hot glue, opening up the massive library of Game Boy and Advance titles. Yeah, the system isn’t much to look at, and with an entire GBA hanging off the back it’s pushing the limits of the word “mini.” But, it is an intrepid hack and, like his others, he’s more than happy to tell you how he did it. Video of this meaty portable in action after the break.

Links

Website

Bacteria’s “Mini-Platform” gets GBA’d – Engadget

Product Features:

• Portable, lightweight, and designed for use on nearly any flat surface
• Small footprint for compact storage
• Drumheads designed to withstand over 1 million strikes
• Ultra-thin navigation panel for quick in-game setup
• Kick drum foot pedal included
• Portable, lightweight, and designed for use on nearly any flat surface
• Includes 2 two-piece soft-tip replacement drumsticks
• 9.8 Ft. (3m) Cable

GameShark® Store – Rock Band